Susan H. Garfield

Biography

Ms. Garfield received her B.Sc. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1973 and her M.Sc. from the University of Maryland in 1975. To aid investigators in the design and implementation of various confocal projects, Ms. Garfield has used her extensive experience and training in cell biology from her earlier positions at NIH. As a chemist in the laboratory of Dr. Roscoe Brady, Chief, Developmental and Metabolic Neurology Branch, NINDS, her research focused on the enzymes involved in lipid metabolism and the biochemistry of lysosomal storage diseases. Ms. Garfield established and maintained a Tissue Culture Facility for the Clinical Investigations and Therapeutics Section and was responsible for developing methods for the culture of human skin fibroblasts and amnion used in enzymatic assays for genetic screening. She was also involved in enzyme purification and modification of glucocerebrosidase for enzyme replacement therapy for patients suffering from Gaucher's disease. Under the supervision of Dr. Kevin Catt, Chief, Endocrinology Reproduction Research Branch, NICHD, Ms. Garfield conducted acute metabolic studies of peptide hormone action using radioligand-receptor analysis of peptide hormone receptors for LH/hCG, FSH, and prolactin in testis, ovary and adrenal. Ms. Garfield also modified protocols for two dimensional gel electrophoresis to study the phosphorylation of endogenous proteins in the leydig cell in response to gonadotropin. During her tenure several years ago as a chemist in the Laboratory of Experimental Carcinogenesis, her research concentrated on the neoplastic transformation of rat liver epithelial cells by retroviral associated oncogenes. Ms. Garfield was able to successfully introduce various oncogenes into liver epithelial cells by infecting these cells with retroviral vectors and was able to establish both cell and tumor lines at a time when transfection of rat liver epithelial cells had proved unsuccessful. She also conducted studies on the regulated expression of the mdr gene in rat liver which was found to be partially responsible for the multidrug-resistance of carcinogen-initiated hepatocytes and regenerating liver cells. As Confocal Facility Manager, Ms. Garfield provides state-of-the-art histological and microscopic analyses to better understand critical biological structures and cellular processes involved in cancer.

Research Interest

microscopy